Qiu Boye, the Pick-up King

Night fell, and a warm yellow lamp lit the quiet room.

Lu Xiaoxiao sat at her desk, a life sciences literature assignment on her computer screen. For the first time, she found herself staring blankly at it, her mind full of everything Shao Enci had said that day.

His words held all her thoughts in an iron grip, impossible to shake off.

She raised her eyes in agitation, her gaze falling on the pink Carousel Music Box on the top shelf. After a moment, she rose, carefully placed it on the desk, and gently pressed the switch.

Tiny, soft lights came on one after another, and a melodious, ethereal tune slowly flowed out. The horses turned to the rhythm, dappled patches of warm light falling softly across the girl's delicate profile.

Lu Xiaoxiao lowered her long lashes and rested her elbow on the desk, her cheek leaning against her forearm. She gazed quietly at the revolving horses, her heart weighed down by something even more troubling than her task.

She felt suffocated on Shao Enci's behalf because of the family he had grown up in, and she was filled with disgust for Sheng Yao, whom she had run into that day. She didn't need to ask to know what had happened back then: Sheng Yao had maliciously stirred up trouble from beginning to end, and Shao Enci had known nothing about it.

Like mother, like daughter.

A mean, selfish mother had raised a spoiled, overbearing, narrow-minded daughter. How ironic.

Her phone suddenly rang, breaking the stillness and pulling Lu Xiaoxiao from her tangled thoughts.

She turned and saw Meng Yuan's name displayed on the screen.

She answered at once. "Hello?"

An indignant huff came from the girl on the other end, followed by a distinctly reproachful voice. "Lu Xiaoxiao, you really forgot your friends the moment a handsome guy came along!"

Still immersed in her gloomy thoughts, Lu Xiaoxiao froze for a moment. "What's wrong?" she asked, somewhat bewildered.

"You spent the whole day having fun with a handsome guy, and you forgot all about your best friend, didn't you?" Meng Yuan's tone was sour, but she sounded thoroughly coquettish.

Lu Xiaoxiao laughed helplessly and soothed her. "I was wrong. I'll spend the whole day with you tomorrow, all right?"

With a system task on her hands, she couldn't leave Shao Enci's side, so she would have to bring him along tomorrow.

"Tomorrow's May 2. I think He Xi will confess to me tomorrow." Meng Yuan couldn't hide the anticipation in her voice. "You have to be there to witness such a romantic moment with me."

As Lu Xiaoxiao listened, scenes from her previous life came to mind. He Xi would indeed confess to Meng Yuan tomorrow. He would spend a fortune booking a private screening room at one of the Capital's top cinemas, carefully arrange a romantic setting, and invite a group of friends. After pouring out his feelings, the two would embrace and kiss, officially becoming a couple.

But perhaps this seemingly perfect romance had been a mistake from the start. In the end, it would only leave Meng Yuan covered in wounds.

A flicker passed through Lu Xiaoxiao's eyes as a bold idea sprang to mind.

If she invited both Shao Enci and Qiu Boye to the confession tomorrow, it would turn into a full-blown shura field. Whether Meng Yuan's future could be changed would depend entirely on Qiu Boye's attitude.

"All right," Lu Xiaoxiao said slowly. "But I'd like to invite two more people tomorrow."

Meng Yuan's interest was immediately piqued. "Who?"

"Shao Enci, and his friend who just came back from abroad."

For the time being, Lu Xiaoxiao didn't tell Meng Yuan that the man was Qiu Boye, the person she had been betrothed to as a child. She knew it was a little unethical, but for Meng Yuan's future happiness, she had no choice.

The two chatted for a little longer before hanging up.

Lu Xiaoxiao exited the call screen, opened her chat with Shao Enci, and typed out a message: [Are you free tomorrow? Come see a movie with me, and ask your friend who just came back from abroad to come along.]

Meanwhile, in the study at Huaqing Jiayuan.

A cool night breeze brushed the windowsill. Having just finished washing up, Shao Enci sat down at his computer and immersed himself in a database optimization experiment.

The lingering, warm French kiss from that day replayed in his mind over and over, throwing all his thoughts into disarray and making it impossible for him to settle down to the complicated code.

According to his original plan, he needed to finish debugging the core operating logic and complete the stress test tonight, fine-tune the parameters tomorrow morning, and wrap up by writing the interim report in the afternoon.

But Lu Xiaoxiao's invitation had easily thrown all his plans into disarray.

He didn't think that was a bad thing, though.

A set of tests finished running on the screen, and the results came in. Performance was twelve percent worse than expected. He frowned, picked up his iced Americano, and took a sip. His fingers paused over the keyboard for two seconds before he went back over the code logic.

Just then, his phone vibrated softly.

He glanced sideways and saw an unread message from the contact pinned to the top.

Shao Enci stopped what he was doing and picked up his phone. His narrow eyes skimmed the words, and a faint displeasure settled in them.

Inviting him was one thing, but why did she have to bring someone else along?

Shao Enci typed back: [What, inviting me alone isn't enough? You want to invite my friend too?]

Lu Xiaoxiao replied almost instantly: [Don't get the wrong idea. I just want to invite the two of you to see a movie together, that's all.]

Seeing her reply, Shao Enci felt even more sullen.

He wasn't willing to have a third wheel tagging along. His fingertips coldly tapped out a reply:

[I'm busy. Not going.]

After sending it, the young man turned his gaze back to the computer screen, but he couldn't stop second-guessing himself. Had it been a bad idea to reject her so decisively? What if she never asked him out again?

After hesitating for a moment, he picked up his phone again and sent another message: [What movie?]

Elsewhere, Lu Xiaoxiao was fretting over how to persuade the young man, who said one thing but meant another. She hadn't expected him to give ground on his own, and she silently breathed a sigh of relief.

For a confession event, it would naturally be a romance.

She answered truthfully: [A romance.]

Shao Enci: [...A romance? Why are you bringing my friend?]

If it were just the two of them watching, he certainly wouldn't object, but wouldn't a third wheel be an eyesore?

Lu Xiaoxiao: [Oh, just show up on time at screening room 9 of Jingsheng Cinema at one tomorrow afternoon.]

Shao Enci didn't reply. He called Qiu Boye instead.

The phone rang for a long time before the call connected. The noisy chatter and laughter of men and women could be heard faintly through the receiver.

Shao Enci's handsome brows drew together. "Are you at a bar?" he asked, his voice cool.

On the other end, Qiu Boye's lazy, roguish voice came slowly through the receiver, tinged with drunkenness. "I just got back from abroad, so they threw me a welcome-back party."

"Come see a movie with me at one tomorrow afternoon." Shao Enci paused. "I'll introduce you to someone."

Qiu Boye's interest was piqued. "Your girlfriend? Sure."

"...Not yet."

"Then she will be after tomorrow." Qiu Boye's voice was flippant. "I'm the pick-up king at school. Just wait and see tomorrow."

Hearing that, Shao Enci let out the faintest cold scoff, his expression indifferent. "Behave yourself and be a third wheel. Don't make trouble for me."

(Qiu Boye: I thought my bro was about to have good news. Who knew I'd be the one with green smoke rising from my head?)